Bill Belichick has unique take on what makes Bills' Tyrod Taylor so dangerous

Bill Belichick is one of the greatest football minds in the history of the game. He’s one of the best at evaluating talent, team-building, adapting to various situations and making critical adjustments when needed. Sunday, the New England Patriots (9-2) face the Buffalo Bills (6-5) at New Era Field and throughout the week, Belichick, discussed Tyrod Taylor, his game and what type of challenges he poses to opposing defenses.

Taylor is often criticized for simply being a ‘running quarterback’ that simply cannot get the job done as a passer. Entering Week 13, Taylor has a 64-percent completion percentage with just 2,025 passing yards, 12 touchdowns and three interceptions. He has added 302 yards and three touchdowns on the ground.

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While Belichick recognizes Taylor’s skills as a rusher, he made it clear that not all of his runs are designed and that he’s always a threat to make a play through the air while on the move.

“There are some designed runs for him,” Belichick said during his press conference Friday. “There are lot more runs that go to other players, but he’s the second-leading rusher, so some of those are scramble plays, loose plays. He’s very hard to tackle. He’s like a running back when he runs. Again, some of those are part of the play. Some of them are scramble plays. Some of them are just extended plays where he ends up throwing the ball.”

“But his running ability creates passing yards because of the extended play capability, so he can get the ball down the field,” Belichick added.

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The Patriots’ coach went as far as to say that it was Taylor’s ability to improvise and escape a collapsing pocket was more dangerous and a bigger concern than his natural running ability – an opinion that many would disagree with.

“His ability to extend plays, I would say, is just as concerning or dangerous and tough to defend him actually pulling the ball down and running with it. That’s a problem, too. But extending the play and throwing it is, I’d say, as big or probably a bigger problem.”

Belichick explained that New England’s defense needed to ensure that they prevent Taylor from extending plays if they want to have a chance Sunday.

“We don’t want him extending the play,” he added. “He’s a lot better at extending the plays than we are. Inevitably, those are going to come up and we’re going to have to defend them. The more that we can limit those loose plays, extended plays, I think the better off we’ll be.

“I don’t think you can eliminate them [extended plays] completely, but we certainly aren’t looking to get into those situations,” said Belichick. “‘Go back, let him run around, let him extend the play and see if we can defend it.’ We’re certainly not trying to do that and no team has been very successful with that with him. He’s very good. If you don’t let him run laterally and throw the ball, he can run up the middle and run the ball and he’s hard to tackle.”

Taylor has made four starts against Belichick and the Patriots during his career and showed off his dynamic play-making ability in their last meeting, rushing for 48 yards and a score. For his career, Taylor has a 62.2-percent completion rate, throwing for 904 passing yards and four touchdowns with three interceptions, adding 159 rushing yards and two touchdowns.

Buffalo is looking to make a late playoff push and if Tayor can lead the Bills to a win, the team’s chances will be pretty strong.

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